Actor Mark Huberman brings us behind the scenes of Edward Albee's classic relationship conflict Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - now running at Dublin's Gate Theatre.
I first encountered Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? when the audition cropped up.
I had never read it before. I was aware of the movie and had seen Albee's The Sandbox in Players when I was in college, and I also read his Zoo Story in LA years ago. However, my first point of contact with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was for this audition, which is tricky. Because as much as you try to, it's impossible not to focus on the character you are auditioning for, rather than read the play as a complete piece.
For me the play is about truth; and how much truth we live with.
So often falsehoods or little white lies are initiated to protect or ease a relationship, but can fall back in on themselves ultimately. Honesty is the best policy but only when it's bearable by all involved.
I would describe my character as driven, successful, fearless, analytical, practical, perhaps overly pragmatic, loyal and righteous.
It is difficult to stand back and judge, as a huge part of the work is to be in his thoughts and yet he seems instantly quantifiable - a type, one-dimensional. Yet the beauty of the play is exposing facets of him to the audience and to himself too. Whether he is willing to look into the mirror forced upon him is another thing.
The most difficult thing to get to grips with is listening.
The play feels like we are almost holding hands, the four of us, for the entire show. We share the space and the story and more than any job I have done before, we have to trust and depend on each entirely. We do, which is really brilliant and not all that common. It is the listening to each other and for each other that took a while to conquer, for me at least.
The other characters in the play are fascinating to me.
Having this rare occasion of revisiting a play, it's a testament to Albee that we have found more to play, tell and discover. The language of the play is accessible and feels very modern and contemporary. All four of the characters are intriguing and if we revisited it every year, elements of each character would become clearer and early assumptions made would be amended as Albee demands thinking in several directions, rather than an easy and obvious one.
I actually watched the Richard Burton and Liz Taylor film before my first audition.
I was in the middle of filming and was worried about time with the script and getting a handle on it. This is a difficult temptation, however, because it leaves an imprint on you that can be difficult to remove - this happens for the audience too. The play is so rarely performed that most people's experience of the piece is from the film and any deviation can be difficult to adjust to, but I feel within 10 minutes they do.
In the era of the perfect life on social media, the play is interesting in that all four characters commit to the night completely in a way that we just don't do anymore.
Aside from the bathroom breaks, the house is the world for the duration of the play for better or for worse. If the action happened tonight, all four would have an escape to the outside, through sending or receiving texts - a little retreat or cry for help and a way of not being in the room when you physically are. Also a few group selfies of smiling and drinking would sell the night as great craic but would only be the tip of the iceberg.
I reckon by the end of this run I will have very mixed feelings.
No show lasts forever. I do feel it has been a gift; from the people involved, to the text, and the reaction to the show. It's a considerable journey to make every night and the illusion of being free of it will be shortlived. I will miss it. The play itself is close to flawless in its writing, something we have to rise to every time. Who knows? It may come back, but for now I will just enjoy every moment of it, having been given the gift of playing Nick.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? runs at the Gate Theatre until November 12
